IBM Website Patent to Get Tribunal Review in Rakuten Challenge

Shopping rewards business Rakuten Rewards convinced an administrative tribunal to review an IBM Corp. patent related to website design, after a separate challenge by Zillow Inc. was rejected.

There is a “reasonable likelihood” Rakuten will be able to show claims in IBM’s US Patent No. 7,543,234 are invalid because they’re obvious, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board said in a decision Wednesday.

IBM has filed infringement lawsuits against Rakuten and Zillow. The PTAB in March denied a separate review request from Zillow. The real estate company made different arguments in challenging the validity of the patent.

The PTAB’s ...